William H. Nelson III, longtime Scott Paper Co. executive and avid outdoorsman, dies at 92

William H. Nelson III, 92, a longtime executive at Scott Paper Co., a decorated athlete and scholar, and an avid outdoorsman, died Thursday, Jan. 28, of renal disease at his home in Morrisville, Vt.

A graduate of Swarthmore High School, Wesleyan University, and Harvard Business School, Mr. Nelson rose through the ranks at Scott Paper, starting as a paper packer on shift work in the Chester plant and retiring as a top executive at Scott Plaza in Tinicum Township.

“He was ambitious and wicked smart,” said his daughter, Dr. Miriam Nelson. “Working with him, people said they felt empowered. He built community.”

“He was the first boss I liked as a friend,” said Larry Shane, who worked as assistant treasurer at Scott Paper when Mr. Nelson was the treasurer. “He was always positive, always motivating people.”

Born in Winston-Salem, N.C., on May 4, 1928, Mr. Nelson was one of three children. The family moved to Chester when he was 14 to be closer to family, and he found success at Swarthmore High School. Nicknamed “Bama” by his classmates for his Southern accent, Mr. Nelson played football and served as class president as a junior and senior, was president of the school’s National Honor Society, and won the Swarthmore Foundation Scholarship.

He attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., on a scholarship, and made the honor roll all four years. He was vice president of the junior class, and, foreshadowing his future business success, ran a dry cleaning and laundry service to support himself.

A college football player, he was skilled at dropkicks when they were common, and teammates called him the “Golden Toe.”

After Wesleyan, Mr. Nelson graduated from Harvard Business School in 1952. He then served two years in the Air Force, stationed in Dayton, Ohio, during the Korean War.

It was between his first and second years at Harvard that Mr. Nelson got a summer job at the Scott Paper plant in Chester. After leaving the Air Force, he returned to Scott Paper and spent the next 31 years working as, among other roles, the night shift at the plant, company treasurer, and eventually executive vice president.

His work took him around the world, and he made lifelong friends that remain in touch with the family. “Everything was an adventure for him,” said his wife, Dr. Lisa Nelson.

Mr. Nelson met his first wife, Sarah Mason, while he was at Harvard. They married, set up house in Media, and raised a daughter and two sons. The family summered in Beach Haven, N.J., and South Bristol, Maine, and skied in Stowe, Vt. Mr. Nelson and his wife separated in 1985, and later divorced but remained friends.

Mr. Nelson retired from Scott Paper in 1987, when he was 59, and married Lisa Marler in 1989. They moved to Vermont for good to squeeze in more skiing and time with family and friends. Together, they tended to their many farm and domestic animals, and summer garden.

“He loved people,” said his wife. “We’d drive through town, and, no matter the weather, he’d roll his window down so he could talk to folks. He found something good in everything.”

Mr. Nelson was an avid golfer who reveled in his only hole-in-one, and a dedicated runner who completed the 1970 New York City Marathon. He played tennis, fished, and hiked. The tee box on the 18th hole at the Country Club of Vermont in Waterbury, Vt., is named in his honor, and he was putting on those greens as recently as last summer.

“His genuine curiosity about what his various family members and lifelong friends were up to was a signature trait,” his family said in a tribute. “He was humble, generous, fair-minded, always willing to listen, an instigator of fun, and treated everyone he knew with the same respect and personal interest.”

In addition to his daughter, wife and ex-wife, Mr. Nelson is survived by his sons, Harry and Joe Nelson; eight grandchildren; and other relatives. His sisters, Libby and Mary Jane, and son David died earlier.

Services are to be held later.

Donations in his name can be made to Copley Hospital Development Office, 528 Washington Highway, Morrisville, Vt. 05661, and Lamoille Home Health and Hospice, 54 Farr Ave., Morrisville Vt. 05661.